KBS Cycle Tank Repair Kit - Warning & Better ways.

HollywoodMX

Coast to Coast
So my GPZ tank was rusting, enough to clog the fuel filter one day. Previously I used electrolysis which lasted about 1.5 years.

So I decided to take it to the next step. A local hot rod shop had nothing but praise to say about the KBS Cycle Tank Repair Kit. KBS was once some people from POR.

So I started with the first step which is the cleaning solution with 1:1 warm water. It says to remove all items fromt he tank ie: petcock, fuel senders, etc and use duct tape to seal openings. So I did that. Poured in the solution through the bottom fuel tank bobber hole and then sealed that hole as well. I come back to it 15 min later and the solution is leaving out the top gas cap whole through the tape. After a quick curse I flip the tank over to address the leak...

This is where it gets bad..
:'(

THE CLEANER ATE MY CLEAR COAT! Dissolved and wrinkled it into a scum similar to when you microwave milk and it has that wrinkly scum on top. Not only that, no matter what I did I could not get the tape to hold anywhere. The solution kept eating the glue. I think this kit is more for gas tanks that are like car gas tanks where they are not visible like most motorcycle tanks even though this is a motorcycle kit.

I used alcohol, marine clean, gas, windex with ammonia, painters degreaser/prep, even light scuffing on the tape surfaces with no success. I used every tape I had, including water proof out door tape meant for bonding to wet surfaces! It even ate through that glue! I plugged the petcock and vent holes with rubber hose which worked but the tape on the bigger holes the tape wouldn't last.

So the paint job is clearly ruined now and I have to unexpectedly paint the whole gpz when the project was just to clean rust inside the tank. With 3 active builds on top of that this is just more garage work that I don't need also the kit cost me 65 bucks which I wont be using anymore..

I will post pics int he next day or two. I tried to see if stage 1 cutting polish might blend the areas of non eaten clear coat but it didn't. It did help but its looking like a full repaint.

Do you think its worth contacting the company to complain? I don't remember any warnings in the instructions on the cleaning solution just on the sealer. Problem is I should have taken pics of the eaten clear coat when it happened. Might be too late now. My bike was likely repainted painted in the 80's so it must have a clear coat that isn't of todays products that was soluble to this solution. I know it wasn't lacquer.

Now what???

Well I switched to Metal rescue which is water soluble can be spilled on the tank and the sender and petcock can stay in the tank! It seemed to working well even in the first 30 min. I did do the rocks inside the tank and shake before using any of these options as well.
 
Every duct tape is different, different adhesive different fiber etc. chances are whatever brand they use didn't leak. But they are stupid for recommending that.
Rubber plugs should be used instead of tape. Tape almost never holds.

That being said you can't expect a solution that cleans rust out of your tank to not eat paint. It's likely phosphoric acid.

Contacting the manufacturer likely won't do any good but you could try.

You should go ahead and finish the process and coat the inside of the tank while the paint is already messed up and then repaint.
It sucks but you shouldn't coat a tank after paint anyway, it's just asking for trouble.
 
That really sucks Hollywood. They probably should have some kind of warning or notification.

What type of clear coat was it? Dupli-color? SprayMax 2K? Professional?
 
SONIC. said:
Every duct tape is different, different adhesive different fiber etc. chances are whatever brand they use didn't leak. But they are stupid for recommending that.
Rubber plugs should be used instead of tape. Tape almost never holds.

That being said you can't expect a solution that cleans rust out of your tank to not eat paint. It's likely phosphoric acid.

Contacting the manufacturer likely won't do any good but you could try.

You should go ahead and finish the process and coat the inside of the tank while the paint is already messed up and then repaint.
It sucks but you shouldn't coat a tank after paint anyway, it's just asking for trouble.


HerrDeacon said:
That really sucks Hollywood. They probably should have some kind of warning or notification.

What type of clear coat was it? Dupli-color? SprayMax 2K? Professional?

Ya let me clear up some details here. The kit is 3 stages, clean, de rust solution, the sealing agent.

It's of my opinion the cleaning solution shouldn't eat paint which it only ate the clear coat not the paint underneath. If I couldn't keep the cleaner from leaking I would not have used the more harsher chemical steps which I didn't.

This tank isn't a new paint job like I mentioned in the original post. It was professional but done some time in the late 80s. Looks like primer, base, metallic pearl, then clear.

I'm a pretty good bike builder, I know not to do tank derusting after a new paint job. ;-)

See pic. The undisolved clear looks like peeling skin from a sunburn.

u9ehe2uz.jpg
 
Well here is the result with metal ready. Should have done this at the beginning! You don't need to remove the petcocks, fuel senders, etc. And it can be spilled on the tank no problem.

7ytadybu.jpg
 
I loved the stuff, works great. My tank needed repainting though. That's all I'm going to say, if I went any further it would be rude.
 
Rubber expansion plugs (freeze plugs) work great for sealing gas tank filler holes.
http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-1053-02605.aspx
 
mikeinnh said:
Rubber expansion plugs (freeze plugs) work great for sealing gas tank filler holes.
http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-1053-02605.aspx

Except i had a fuel level bobber. Nice big rounded rectangle hole.

In the end with metal ready i didnt need to worry about plugs at all!
 
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